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Friday, August 15, 2014

Il Sogno di Omero - Exploring Dreams of the Blind

Last week, we got a post on the Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp Facebook page froma page called Il Sogno d'Omero. My first instinct was that it was something spammy, but it is actually the title of an Italian film that hopes to come to fruition. Il Sogno di Omero--The Dream of Homer--is a documentary about five people who are blind from birth. Specifically, the film hopes to answer the question "What does one who lives without seeing dream about?" through a diary-like narrative that loosely follows Homer's "The Odyssey".

The film, directed by Emiliano Aiello follows Rosa, Domenico, Gabriel, Daniela, and Fabio, five people who live sompletely separate lives and are unconnected to one another except in their habit of grabbing a tape recorder upon waking and describing their dreams. These oral diaries serve as the roots of the film's narrative.

Gabriel's story is the spine through which the other characters weave. His dreams often focus on and return to a metaphorical home. Domenico dreams in water, where he can move with ease and confidence without his sight. Rosa is a writer and an artist. Her dreams show up in her stories and sculptures. Daniela finds her dreams when she goes to the movies. She loves watching them through audio descriptions or when people describe the images for her. The images form from the sounds she hears. Fabio is an IT developer and a musician. He plays piano and accordion and matches his dreams to the music he writes.

The film has gotten some funding and support from Roma III University, but the crew is trying to gain additional funding through an Indiegogo campaign. (If you check out that page, don't be discouraged if you can't at first read it; the English translation is near the bottom.)

Here is a small part of the film that has been produced. Check it out!